Captain Muir to the fore as Michaelhouse wins at St Charles
A superb opening stand from Michaelhouse captain Ethan Muir and William Russon set the visitors up for a four-wicket win over St Charles College in a limited overs match in Pietermaritzburg on Saturday.
The result went ‘House‘s way but not the toss, and Saints elected to bat first after Muir called incorrectly.
They lost a couple of early wickets, but Christiaan Prinsloo, as he has done a number of times this season, settled in and held up an end to get the home side on track. Together, he and Ryan Clarke advanced the total by 89 runs for the third wicket from only 83 balls.
Their partnership ended when Clarke was caught by Muir off the bowling of Rex Wardlaw for 47. He’d taken only 35 balls to score his runs and had struck six fours. When he departed, St Charles was on 123/3.
Prinsloo and André Bosman tacked on another 38 runs for the fourth wicket before Bosman fell for 14, a victim of Rendani Nonge who, four runs later, added the wicket of Connor Simpson.
Prinsloo was, eventually, the seventh man to lose his wicket, caught by William Russon off the bowling of Rex Wardlaw for 87 from 142 balls, 15 of which he dispatched to the boundary. His dismissal left Saints on 182/7. Unfortunately for the hosts, it was also the start of a collapse.
They added only two more runs while losing three more wickets, with Muir snagging 2/3 in 1.2 overs to bring the St Charles innings to an end.
Wardlaw, though, led the Michaelhouse attack, knocking over 3/30 in seven overs, while Nonge finished with a tidy 2/22 in seven, and his fellow new ball bowler, Thandanani Zuma, claimed 2/35 in 10.
Saints appeared to have produced a decent enough total, but Muir and Russon ate into it with a committed opening partnership.
They spent 176 balls together and put on 146 for the first wicket before, at last, their stand was halted when Keegan Vermaak bowled Russon for 52 from 89 deliveries, which included seven fours.
Ben Heuer didn’t last long, caught by Ryan Clarke off the bowling of Vermaak for two, and only one run later Muir’s fine innings ended.
He was bowled by Rowen Rajah for 76. He had faced 93 balls and hit 11 fours. He had, also, done his job.
As ‘House closed in on victory, Rex Wardlaw exited for four, which left the total on 162/4 after 36 overs.
Four overs later, they sealed a six-wicket victory, with Hayden Hewlett unbeaten on 22 and Cody Sander on four. St Charles had conceded 29 extras and 23 of those were wides. That had hurt their chances.
Keegan Vermaak was the pick of the home side’s bowlers, snaring 3/42 in nine overs, while fast bowler Rowen Rajah kept the Michaelhouse batsmen on their toes, capturing 1/29 from his 10 overs.
Summarised scorecard
St Charles College 184/10 (Christiaan Prinsloo 84, Ryan Clarke 47; Rex Wardlaw 3/30, Ethan Muir 2/3, Rendani Nonge 2/22, Thandanani Zuma 2/35); Michaelhouse 188/4 (Ethan Muir 76, William Russon 52, Hayden Hewlett 22*; Keegan Vermaak 3/42). Michaelhouse won by six wickets.
